NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that two
months of "androgen deprivation" therapy, which reduces levels
of the androgen, a male hormone, can help slow the growth of
locally advanced prostate cancer when given before and during
radiotherapy. Plus, the short course of androgen deprivation
therapy does not increase the risk of death from cardiovascular
disease, which had been a concern.

"The benefits of short-term hormonal therapy for men
receiving radiation therapy for prostate cancer far outweigh
the risks," lead author Dr. Mack Roach, from the University of
California at San Francisco, said in a statement.

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the
researchers assessed the outcomes of 456 men with prostate
cancer who were randomly assigned to receive radiotherapy alone
or in combination with androgen deprivation therapy.

The androgen deprivation therapy included goserelin (every
4 weeks) and flutamide (3-times daily) given before and during
radiotherapy.

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The overall survival rates after 10 years were 43 percent
with the combination regimen and 34 percent with radiotherapy
alone; the corresponding average survival times were 8.7 and
7.3 years. Still, the authors point out that none of these
differences were statistically significant.

The combination therapy, however, did result in a
statistically significant improvement in mortality from
prostate cancer after 10 years, at 23 percent compared with 36
percent in the radiation therapy-only group.

Furthermore, adding androgen deprivation therapy to
radiotherapy did not increase the risk of death from
cardiovascular disease, the findings indicate.

"While four months of hormonal therapy isn't enough to
cause significant side effects, we found that it can delay the
development of bone metastasis by as many as 8 years, which is
very significant," Roach stated.